Route 66: Topock, Az to Tucumcari, NM.

The Historic Route 66 from the California state-line to Tucumcari in New Mexico.

____ After nearly five months on the road, it was time to start heading North and slowly back to Canada and the deep freeze that had been going on since we departed on November 1st. From Quartzsite it was a small hop to Parker, then two nights at the Cattail Cove State Park on the shores of Lake Havasu. Desert landscape with the clear deep waters of the lake; colour from the cacti in bloom and hiking trails at a campsite 16 miles south of Lake Havasu City. Of course, we did the London Bridge and English Village tourist thing before heading up to connect with the historic Route 66; where it crosses the Colorado River from California into Arizona.

____ A quiet night on BLM land, just north of Golden Shores, was followed by an early morning stop at Oatman. The former ghost town is now a tourist-trap with the attraction of wild donkeys roaming the streets and gunfights every day at Noon. We saw the donkeys and quickly moved on; taking the narrow road over the Sitgreaves Pass; featuring a pet cemetery at the summit's scenic over-look. Weird. There were plenty of old Route 66 places to visit but we didn't do them all. A visit to the Grand Canyon Caverns was entertaining and worthwhile; a water carved series of caves that has dried-out over time as the Colorado River has cut deeper into the desert and lowered the water-table. Old style diner experience was taken at the Snow Cap in Seligman; ice-cream sundae eaten among 50's memorabilia while a sign on the wall said that they also sold dead chicken.

____ The Mack was now parking nightly among the big-rigs as we took Interstate 40 east to Winslow and the photo-opportunity of standing on the corner. Now a busy intersection with handily parked flat-bed Ford and souvenir shop. I could get angry about the fact that it was not even the title of the song but take it easy and move on. At Tucumcari, we turn north-east on Highway 54, cutting across Texas and Oklahoma before hitting Interstate 135 north of Wichita and retracing our tracks back to Canada.

Boat launch and beach at Cattail Cove State Park on Lake Havasu.

Most of the hiking trails at Cattail Cove State Park started from the overflow camping parking area.

London Bridge at Lake Havasu City; looking much as it did when I last saw it over 50 years ago in London. The water seemed a lot cleaner than that of the Thames.

Oatman's famous wild burros.

Sitgreaves Pass is not recommended for vehicles over 40 feet long. The Mack was the biggest thing up there but I've been over a lot worse in 18 wheel semis.

The Grand Canyon Caverns; 220 feet underground and three-quarters of a mile of tunnels and caves.

The Snow Cap at Seligman; one of hundreds of 50's style eateries that play the Route 66 card.

The Standing on the Corner corner, such a fine sight to see.

A map of the whole five month trip: November 2018 to March 2019.

The only other Mack RV that we encountered on the whole trip was in Tucumcari, NM. Bob from Minnesota was on his way home after a Winter in the Sun too.